Understanding Phil Ivey

Phil Ivey's skills are among the best in the world, and he is still young with a lot to learn. At 28 years old, Phil has a lifetime of poker still in front of him. Imagine the improvement Phil can expect over the next twenty years as he gains hundreds of thousands hands worth of experience. Some of Phil's success can be contributed to his early start to the game. He admits playing professional poker for over ten years now. Rumors say that he was playing for sizable pots even earlier than that.

If you do the math you'll see that Ivey was playing serious poker when the rest of us were worried about getting our homework completed before Algebra class! Speaking of High School, Phil and his wife met in school and has never looked back.

Phil grew up in New Jersey. Away from the table, he can be considered a pretty normal guy. He enjoys video games, sports, and hanging around with his friends. Whether playing a friendly video game with friends or at the final table of the WPT, there is one certainty with Phil: he plays to win. Phil is fueled by competition. He will turn anything into a challenge. He'll place wagers on a game of Pac Man as quickly as he will poker. He is one of the fiercest competitors that you'll ever find.

Phil is well known for being nearly unreadable at the tables. He is so in control of his emotions and behavior that he exhibits no tells. He is a regular at the biggest cash games on the planet. He is one of the faces seen on poker video games, poker magazines, poker websites, and more. His nickname, the "Tiger Woods of poker", is not truly an accurate moniker. There is little comparison between the two in terms of their place in the sport. The nickname may have been born coined more because both men have a similar look when concentrating on their next play.

Phil plays at the absolute toughest games in the world on a regular basis. He is skilled enough to beat the best in the world. Likewise, he's very skilled at bowling over weak or amateur players. He exudes true confidence in his abilities.

Phil Ivey: Play Profile & Prediction

PLAY PROFILE: He seems to have ice water in his veins. Phil rarely allows his emotions to affect his play. Keenly intelligent and amazingly perceptive, he makes great reads on his opposition. His best game overall is 7 card stud. He's had single sessions in cash games where he has cruised to enormous wins in this variation of the game. His fearlessness and confidence allow him to be great at all No Limit games, as well. He has no apparent weaknesses in his game. Some internet chatters believe that he has dropped off lately in his tournament game. This is not accurate at all. It is true that he does not play in as many worldwide tournaments as some others on the tournament trail. Phil has cash games near his home in Vegas that have the potential of more cash than the tournaments. If you look at the overall percentage of cash finished in tournaments (in terms of cashes compared to number entered), Phil has to be in elite company with his success rate. In 2005 alone he scored final tables at the WPT, a 2nd place at a WSOP Circuit event, and a 5th (overall) WSOP bracelet.

PREDICTIONS: Phil plays where the money is the juiciest. That means he will continue to play the biggest cash games against the poker elite and the wealthy who choose to challenge them. He is driven by publicity and fame. Thus, don't expect him to be making tons of appearances on celebrity/pro mixed events or making rounds on the talk show circuit. Likewise, he may actually scale back his tournament schedule even more to concentrate on his big cash games. I expect Phil to one day be one of the greatest to ever play the game, and one of the most successful in terms of poker winnings. I do not expect him to one of the most famous to ever play, however. Like Chip Reese, Phil is likely to be wildly profitable in cash games but remain somewhat unknown to the general public. Self-promoters such as Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu will gain the spotlight of the masses while Ivey plugs along pulling in huge money. If Phil does make a splash into the public consciousness, it will be via World Series wins. With 5 bracelets before his 29th birthday, Phil does have a chance to near the record of most bracelets ever by the end of his career. If this happens, immense fame will of course follow.

♣ To check out where Phil plays poker online, visit FullTiltPoker.com.

More Poker Player Profiles

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♣ Jennifer Harman ♣ Johnny Chan ♣ Mark Seif ♣ Mike Matusow ♣ Phil Gordon ♣ Phil Hellmuth ♣ Phil Ivey ♣ Phil Laak ♣ Poker Hotties ♣ Sam Farha ♣ TJ Cloutier

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